It all began on Sunday, July 30th. We went out to dinner with friends to Sabatino's. Our friend said the spicy sausage there was famous for its ability to induce labor. Not that we needed an excuse - that sausage is delicious!
So we all went out, had some sausage and had a good time. My sense is that the spice is irritating to many women's digestive systems, which is why it got the reputation. Fortunately for me (in the grand scheme of things) my stomach is pretty tough and doesn't get irritated by spicy food - ever. Oh well, it was still fun. Our friends also brought us a little goody bag of gifts, including a small bottle of castor oil. GROSS.
I wasn't really sure if I was going to go that route for a few hours. But then I said, oh what the hell. Let's see if I can even get this down. I mixed about a tablespoon (maybe 2?) with some pineapple juice, plugged my nose and drank it. Gross. But at least I didn't barf (I definitely did when I tried this with Emi).
A few hours later I started to have some painful contractions. We called Gery, who came over around 11, and headed to Hoag. I was determined to get there early enough to avoid the drama we experienced last time with Emi.
WELL...I was only 1 cm when we got there. Hmmmm. Okay. The triage nurse said to walk the halls for an hour and then she would check me. So we did. It was a LONG hour. The contractions were fairly painful but not overpowering. After an hour we went back. I was still 1 cm. UGH. The nurse said it was not real labor - just castor oil induced contractions. And at nearly 3 am, we were sent home. I was frustrated and angry. I was also in quite a bit of pain. The nurse said to take a Tylenol PM, drink a ton of water and try to sleep.
I did those things when we got home. But my contractions were pretty painful so sleep was not really happening for more than maybe 20 minutes stretches here and there. I was fairly miserable. Jay was trying to sleep downstairs to get ready for his work day. At around 6:30 or maybe 7:00 am, I started to feel even worse. Then I heard a popping noise, but no gush of fluid. The contractions were getting stronger but because I wasn't sure if my water had broken, I didn't want to rush back to Hoag just to be sent home again. I got in the shower and let the hot water soothe my aching back. When I got out it became obvious that my water had broken.
At this point, I yelled for Jay and texted Gery to come back to the house. I got some clothes (and an adult diaper) on and brushed my teeth. We quickly shuttled the kids next door to wait for Gery and we left for the hospital.
The drive felt interminable - I swear we hit every red light. And I was really wishing we lived back in our old neighborhood, which was right next to the hospital. The contractions were extremely painful at this point and were coming very quickly, with what felt like no breaks.
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When we got to Hoag, Jay grabbed a wheelchair and we went up. We checked in, letting the nurses know that my previous labor had been "precipitous". They quickly brought me to a room and checked me. I was 4cm. And a little bit surprised. On the bright side, I thought, "well, at least this time I can get an epidural." HAHAHAHAHA (spoiler alert).
They took me to a real delivery room and called the anesthesiologist. At this point the contractions were extraordinarily painful and were virtually back to back. Jay helped by watching the monitor to tell me when a contraction was on the downside.
Finally the anesthesiologist showed up. Hooray! I signed the form (um, is that even enforceable under the circumstances - talk about duress). Then he had me roll on my side. At that point he was going to wait for the contraction to end and give me the epidural. Or not. Because that was the contraction that started the pushing. And I knew it was not going to happen. But unlike with Emi, I was not scared this time. I was relieved - it was almost over! And I knew I could do it. Plus, my actual OB seemed to appear out of nowhere (this was just lucky timing). After one push, she got a face full of water sprayed on her (Gross!) but seemed unphased. The next contraction he was out.
They handed Cayetano to me and he promptly peed on me. And it was love at first sight.